1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information management apparatus and method for medical care data, and non-transitory computer readable medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information management apparatus and method for medical care data, in which medical care data of patients can be utilized for a secondary use in addition to a primary use in an enhanced form with reliability and safety, and non-transitory computer readable medium.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
JP-A 2014-174635 discloses a system for enabling a particular user to read and utilize medical care data stored in a particular one of hospital facilities. According to the document, the patient can read his or her medical care data in the medical history. Also, a certain doctor in a first one of the hospital facilities of a patient can view the medical care data of a second one of the hospital facilities where the patient have been diagnosed or treated in his or her medical history. In the disclosure, it is possible to set a status of permission of view for each one of list items of the data. The medical care data of the past can be currently utilized for medical care of the patient, because remote access can be performed by the first hospital facility to the medical care data of the past in the second hospital facility.
In JP-A 2014-174635, the medical care data of patients are used mainly for a primary use of medical care of the patients themselves. However, the medical care data may be utilized for a secondary use other than the primary use, for example, for reference in treatment of other patients in a form of similar patient cases, and for sample information in basic medical research. Processing of big data of a large data amount has been developed recently in the course of development of the information technology. The secondary use of the medical care data of a great number of patients are of a recent concern in the medical field in a form of big data.
However, the medical care data is information relevant to the privacy. The use of the medical care data in a form of identifiable individual patients is inhibited in the secondary use except after receiving patient consent from the patients, as their privacy must be strictly protected. The value of the medical care data is high with clarified attribute data of the respective patients in view of the secondary use, such as an age, sex, blood type, medical history, genetic information and the like. However, a very rare example of the attribute data may lead possibility of identifying a patient only with the attribute data even after deletion of the patient name, for example, a very rare blood type. There is a problem in that the medical care data does not have benefits for the secondary use assuming that all of the attribute data are deleted from the medical care data by considering an identifiable form of the patient.
According to social survey, numerous patients are highly aware of protecting their privacy, and also have personal wish for beneficial contribution in utilizing the medical care data for a secondary use of research and the like in view of purpose of development and innovation of the medicine to support numerous patients in the world. Elderly patients, and also patients with severity after exacerbation of their symptoms are likely to have much concern about the beneficial contribution. In short, the use of the medical care data can be conditioned with certain priority to the beneficial contribution over the ensured protection of the privacy of the patients.
Assuming that there is a technique for supporting the secondary use of the medical care data for the beneficial contribution of data of the patient, collection of the medical care data may be enhanced in addition to statistical data, to enlarge innovation of the secondary use of the medical care data. However, JP-A 2014-174635 only discloses the primary use of the medical care data of the past. There is no suggestion of structures for new development and solution in the use of the medical care data.